The Big Sandy news. [volume] (Louisa, Ky.) 1885-1929, 1887-10-27
.'whyr WHAT'S the matter with you

|
It's in our family; but Two gotit bad,
and here he rubbed his arms and legs
1T knocked me clean off my feet, y h,
added, "and my limbs felt like sticks
Send" and here a roar of laughter
broke from the men. and one of them
Selling him by the arms, jerkei him tt
his feet.
You're all right my ladi only next
time don't go fooling around old
Amos. He's hard nut :"
Here's yer money, sonny" said
the old man, holding out bill.
You've earned It."
What do you mean?" gaspod the
athlete.
What do you mean9 Why, Jest
this; Yer haven't had shock of
paralysis. Yer tried to heft one of these
burned torpeders. They'll knock a
mule down If yer gives 'em che
chance.
The athlete looked 'acantly ahead,
took back his money nd left amid the
renewed laughter of l'o crowd.
Hell have a yarn 20 tell tho Savan-
nah folks" said the porpetrator of the
joke. but l do hate to hear man
blow and thought I'd take him down.
Injured? NJ, stree. He'll feel stiff
for an hour or SO, lut it won't hurt
him. I've been struck by them one
hundred times, and lis no fun, can
tell yer. It's just like ng struck by
mild stroke of lightning. | don't
generally touch EN-, but man gave
me one dollar to fetch one in, so kept
it in the boat. They'll shock you right
through the net. When l was a-haul-
ing in the tinker seine this morning
knowed had n shock-fsh from the
jerking of my arms The shocks come
right up the wet cordng, so that some
times YOU can't hang on anyhow. I've
seen man who stuck one with an iron
harpoon, thinking it a skate knocked
down so quick he didn't know what hit
him.
you remember old Curt, that used
to do the chores around here ten years
agoP He lived on rum; ho'd do any
thing for it. Well, Perez Haddon put
up big job on him once. He'd
had The jim-jams and he'd sworn off
any quantity of times, but always got
back again. He was just getting over
a spree when Perez came along with
shock fish. Old Curt had never seen
one before, so Perez walks up and
says: Curt, where can l get this
fish cleaned?' What's 1t worth?,
says Curt. Well, half q dollar, l
reckon. says Perez. 'Pll draw it my
self, says the old Niger Go ahead
says Perez, and the old man fetched
out his big case knife and began, two
or three of the boys gathering round.
You aim so steady as I've seen you,
Curt. says Perez, nearly bursting
for rs soon as the old man
touched the fish his arm shot out, so
hat tho knife flew about three feet
H didn't say any thing, but picked the
lnife up and iabbed it into the fish
again, You'd have thought he was
making passes like sleight-o f-hand |
chap; his hands jcrkcd this way and
hat, and the sweat rolled down off his |
lace like rain. At last he dropped |
ler and sat right down ON the grass
md says: Percc, give me something
% steady my nerves; Eve got 'em
again. Well, old Cart never heard
he last of that, and never saw him
rink afterwards.
Whats the use of the shocks?
Why, l reckon they kill fish with en-
IL drive 'em off. y
The latter assumption is probably I
The electric apparatus of the
orpedo fish is its defens and is GER
.ainly good one. Its electric organs
nave been compared TO the voltaic
pile, and consist of two series of layers
If hexagonal cells, The inter
1ening spaces between the plates
1eing filled with trembling,
elly-like substance, so that each
cell can be compared TO the Leyden
ar Each torpedo carries about 4SO
If these batteries, whole being
,qual in power to abe fifteen Leyden
lars, making $500 quare inches
charged 10 the highe st degree. The
upper side OF the fish is positive, the
over negative, the shock, evidently
being entirely at the will of the
strange electrician. The torpedo is
net with frequently along the Atlantic
coast, especially along the Georgia
portion of it.
A naturalist once MI some inter
sting experiments, one of which was
he application of the telephone to a
.orpcdo, TO see if the shock gave an
audible sound. Such proved TO be the
ease, short low creaiS accompany
ng moderate excitement, the dis
charge lasting about one-fi fteenlh of
second. When the fish was greatly
.xcited the croak became n groan,
it was said. like the tonality
If mi, and occupying four or five
seconds. When the attention OF scien-
life men in England was first called to
he torpedo fish, Dr. Walsh, F.. r s.,
himself and scientific London
with one of these fishes. after n series
at the lie de Re. The
performances took the form of pisca-
olial seances, and it became the rage
% take a fish shock. Wondrous me-
licinal virtue was ascribed to it, and
lie demand for torpedoes brought
rich harvest to fishermen. Their use
N medicine, however, was not new.
Us DESCRIBES, the physician of Antony
and Cleopatra, is said TO have made
Use of them.
DR.. Walsh's method was TO place
living torpedo upon n wet towel; from
, plate he suspended two pieces of